Often
people store their cash, driver's licenses, credit cards and deposit slips in
their wallets.Any thief with your
personal financial records is lucky indeed.A thief who has your social security number, bank card, date of birth and
home address can impersonate you and make off with your life savings.Your plight may be far worse if your wallet also held security codes or
spare keys to your car or house.

As
a precaution, make an emergency list of all important items in your wallet
so you know where to call if your wallet is missing.If you already lost your wallet and didn't make a list, make one now
while your memory of your wallet's contents is still fresh.Then, do at least the following:

Call the local sheriff's office
as soon as you know about your loss and have them assign you a case number.Your case number establishes that you made a timely report of the accident.Having a case number also safeguards yourrights when dealing with other agencies.

Tell each credit
card agency about the loss and give them your case number.

Have your bank close old checking
and savings accounts andthen open
new ones.Get the bank to issue
you some temporary checks until your new checks arrive.

Give the DMV your case number and
they will replace your driver's
license free of charge.

If your social security card was
in your wallet, get a replacement
by calling (800) 772-1213.

Immediately file a police report
and get copies.You mayneed to show it to merchants and collectors who think it'syou who passed off the bad checks.If the store tries tohave you
arrested, having the police report with you willsave a lot of embarrassment.

Have the bank stamp any bad checks written on your oldaccount with the words "signature doesn't match."

To prevent someone from forging
your name, make sure thebank reports
your loss to the six
major check verificationcompanies.
Stores throughout the nation depend on these sixcompanies to say whether they should accept orreject a check.To be
doubly protected, spend the time andcall
each of the six companies yourself.Otherwiseyou may pay for it later if the wronged merchant orcollection agency comes after you.